Goods are often effectively and efficiently stored and transported in stacked configuration. Stacking goods maximizes the use of available storage and transportation space. In addition, it is desirable to manipulate such goods with a forklift for quick handling of the goods. This saves labor and time. Some goods, however, are difficult to store and transport in stacked configuration and are not easily manipulated with a forklift. Wheeled items such as photocopiers on casters are an example of such goods which are difficult to handle.
Typically, an item such as a photocopier on casters has to be placed on skids and secured to the skids to be manipulated with a forklift and stored and transported in stacked configuration. Normally, two laborers and a forklift are required to load and secure a photocopier to skids. The photocopier is secured to the skids by bolting the photocopier to the skids. This is a time consuming task which takes at least about 20 minutes per item.
Alternatively, wheeled items such as photocopiers on casters can be stored on an open floor without stacking the items. Without stacking, however, photocopiers occupy a large space. In addition, photocopiers, unsecured to skids, are difficult to manipulate with a forklift and are rolled about the floor instead. This requires a lot of labor and is time consuming.
Another problem with storing items such as photocopiers on an open floor is that photocopiers are controlled in inventory by serial number. When a specific serial number is requested, an employee must locate the unit within the bulk storage area and retrieve the particular photocopier by moving other photocopiers that obstruct its path. The desired unit is then pushed to the area in which it is to be processed. This is also undesirably time consuming.
Pallets disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,787,817, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/075,632, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference, disclose pallets designed to more effectively and efficiently store and transport items on casters. Those pallets include built-in ramps and tracks for securely positioning an item on casters against a support surface of the pallet. Although such pallets are very effective, they occupy a surface area larger than the stored item because of the area required for the built-in ramps and tracks.
Therefore, there is a need for a system for storing and transporting wheeled items such as photocopiers in a manner that economizes storage space for the items and the amount of material used to make the pallet.